The Champion
Original Air Date: February 8, 1985
Written By: Paul F. Edwards
Directed By: Cliff Boyle
Produced By: Skip Ward
Guest Appearances: Deborah Wakeham as Kathy Courtney; Hugh Gillin as Sheriff John Roland. Also starring Judson Scott as Lt. James; Frank Ashmore as Philip.
En route to Tucson with a shipment of much-needed weapons, Mike Donovan and Kyle Bates are stopped by a small town patrolman who demands half of their bounty as a "toll." Mike and Kyle try to make a getaway in their truck, but the sheriff deputy shoots one of their tires. Their transportation halted and themselves cornered, the two grab their guns and shoot it out with the law. But soon a third party shows up on horseback to aid the Resistance duo, and the patrolman flees. The cavalry is Kathy Courtney, a local rancher. She explains how the sheriff, John Roland, made a deal with the Visitors. He collects "taxes" — most in the form of horses — from the community to appease the Visitors.
Kathy takes Mike and Kyle to her place where they make repairs on their vehicle and enjoy a home-cooked meal. There they meet Kathy's daughter, Jesse, who isn't very trusting of the newcomers but soon warms up to Donovan as a father figure. Mike decides to stay and help deal with the collaborator sheriff while Kyle continues on his way to Tucson.
On the Los Angeles Mother Ship, Lydia is confined to a cell following her arrest for the murder of Charles. Diana visits and offers Lydia the option of suicide — by scorpion — to avoid an embarrassing trial. Lydia is furious, insisting it is Diana who killed Charles. She tries to lunge at Diana but a device on her waist prevents her from getting too close. Later, in an act of defiance, Lydia eats the scorpion and presents the deadly tail to Diana.
At Lydia's trial, Diana demands a verdict from the panel of three judges. Lydia objects that she wasn't given a chance to plead her case, but Diana silences her. The judges pronounce Lydia guilty, and she is prepared for execution by the disintegrator. Diana is about to have Lydia killed when suddenly — and a day before his scheduled arrival — the Inspector General shows up and stops the execution. He introduces himself as Philip, the twin brother of Martin and special envoy from the Leader. By order of the Leader, Philip has arrived to conduct an impartial investigation into Charles's murder. He releases Lydia from her captivity pending the outcome of his investigation.
Eventually Philip determines that Diana violated proper legal procedure, so Lydia is entitled to a new trial — a trial by combat with her accuser, Diana. Lydia exercises her option, and the fight is scheduled for the following day.
Back in the countryside, Sheriff Roland realizes who Mike is and that he's wanted by the Visitors. He notifies Lt. James in Los Angeles of the news, and soon James arrives with a handful of troopers.
Meanwhile, Kyle, Elizabeth, and Willie — having learned of Lt. James's plans to capture Mike — show up and are reunited with Mike and Kathy. The group races to find Jesse, who has run off with plans to protect Mike by killing James on her own. Just as Jesse is taking pot shots at James's grounded Skyfighter, her mother and the Resistance fighters show up to confront Sheriff Roland and James. Mike and Kyle make quick work of the Visitor soldiers, but James escapes in his ship. Nevertheless, it now seems that Roland's reign is over, and the torch is passed to Kathy and Jesse to head up the new local Resistance.
Diana and Lydia begin their combat as Philip and a judge oversee. Eventually discarding their weapons, they resort to hand-to-hand fighting. Lydia is about to finish off Diana when Philip calls a halt to the proceedings — another set of finger prints were found on the poison vile and he wants to be certain who killed Charles. He invokes the interguardian rule, forcing Diana and Lydia to protect one another from any harm. By the Leader's orders, the two women resume their ranks held under Charles, meaning Diana must report to Lydia for the time-being. But, Lydia must report to Philip. Neither seems terribly happy about the development.
Notes
- This episode is the first to open with a new version of the credits. The mid-season credits are longer than the original version and feature a voiceover monologue. As expected, Michael Ironside, Lane Smith, Blair Tefkin, and Michael Wright are no longer included in the credits.
- Beginning with "The Champion," the Freedom Network update no longer appears at the beginning of each episode.
- Philip and Martin are identical twins (created from the same zygote).
- When Philip arrives, Diana makes small talk and describes how Martin died a heroic death at the hands of the Humans while freeing her to return to the fleet. She doesn't mention that Martin was a Fifth Columnist, and it's not clear if Philip knows that fact.
- In this episode Julie is recovering from some sort of injury, which is why she does not accompany the others to help Mike deal with Sheriff Roland and Lt. James.